1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tremolo apparatus for an electric guitar equipped with the function to hold the strings against the bridge.
2. Prior Art
As is known widely, when strings are lowered in tension, the frequency of vibration decreases, while, on the contrary, when the tension of the strings is heightened, the frequency of vibration increases. Therefore, in an electric guitar, it is designed to obtain a specific sound effect, that is a so-called tremolo effect, through lowering and heightening the pitch by changing the tension of the string with quick repetition by using a tremolo mechanism.
In general, the tremolo unit mechanism is constructed as follows: A bridge is disposed on the body of an electric guitar in a flexibly rotatable manner. This bridge base is held in balance with the moment created by the tension of the strings by the use of a balancing spring. Also, string holding members are disposed on the bridge base in a manner to be freely controlled in their movement along the stretching direction of the strings. One end of the strings is anchored to the foregoing string holding member, or the portion around the end of the string is supported by the string holding member, and the above mentioned bridge base is moved up and down by a tremolo arm.
In construction, however, the guitar soon becomes out of tune when vigorous arming is done in the play, thus posing the problem in actual use.
As a countermeasure to such inconvenience, for example, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,661 is known. This invention provides a guitar wherein the portion of the string, that is supported by the string holding member, is locked by pressing it with a presser block in order to prevent the guitar from getting out of tune. Still, the guitar provided by this invention has a problem in terms of handling efficiency. That is, in case the tuning becomes deranged by some reason, it requires troublesome correcting handlings. It needs retuning by releasing the lock of the string effected by the presser block, then the strings must be retuned by tuning pegs and then the string must be locked again with the presser block, through loosening and tightening screws. Besides, the ball end of the string has to be cut first, then, after the string is inserted into the string holder, the presser block must be clamped against the string holding member with the screw and needs appropriate tools, such as a driver, nipper, etc. Thus, complicated steps must be taken for locking and unlocking of the strings.
Furthermore, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,236 discloses a mechanism enabling the tuning to be done while the string is in the locked state, for the purpose of improving the handling efficiency in tuning operation after the string is locked. However, the problems still remain in this mechanism too. The ball end must be cut off and a lot of force is required for fixing the string. Also, for harmonic tuning, the screw used for fixing the string holding member to the bridge base must be loosened, and the string holding member must be moved by hand to the appropriate position. Then, the screw needs to be tightened again. Thus, the handling is difficult with additional disadvantage of lowered accuracy in positional adjustment.
In addition to those mentioned above, various devices for fixing the strings between tuning pegs and nuts have been provided in order to prevent the loosening of the strings during playing of the guitar.
FIG. 1 shows an example of such devices. In a guitar provided with this device, the string locking body 202 is formed into approximately shape in section. This sectional shaping formed by a long groove 201 provided along the top surface thereof. A pair of front and rear side walls 202A and 202B of the string locking body 205 are provided, respectively, with through holes 203 and 204 for inserting a string. These through holes 203 and 204 are opened to the foregoing long groove 201. The string locking body 205 thus constructed is mounted on the upper surface of the head portion 206A of the neck 206 by means of a set screw 207. Also, a presser block 208 that is loosely inserted to the long groove 201 is pressed by a clamping screw 209. This way, the string 210 in the long groove 201 is fixed by getting pressed. The numeral 211 is a finger board, 212 is a top nut, 213 is a tapped hole, and 214 is a through hole.
In the string locking device 202 as mentioned above, when the bottom surface of the long groove 201 is positioned too low relative to the top nut 212 position, the string pressure becomes high, thus tending to lift the presser block 208. This in turn causes the tendency to form the gap between the string 210 and the bottom surface of the long groove 201. As a result, there occurs a problem that when the presser block 208 is lowered to clamp the string, the minute variation in pitch is caused. Moreover, since this device is constructed such that the through holes 203 and 204 for inserting the string are formed respectively in the side walls 202A and 202B, it is difficult to clearly see if the gap is formed between the bottom surface of the long groove 201 and the string 210, even though it is tried to confirm it by looking from the front or rear sides or from above.